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TL8-3Larry 16 Ontario School Library Association Super Conference 2001 She told the story of being invited to a Toronto school by a little boy of 8 or 9. The library in his school had recently been 'refurbished' with new shelves and furniture, but there was no money left- over for books. "The infinite good that books can do for these kids is just simply not measurable," Mme. Clarkson stated. We learned, the next day, from Dr. Stephen Krashen, that in fact Mme. Clarkson was dead right. Kids need a variety of books, at their own reading level, and they need to be able to choose what they want to read. It's that simple. What do we want kids to learn and how much are we willing to pay for it? I can answer that. I want all students in Ontario to learn basic literacy skills. Wouldn't it be wonderful if every child in this province could read? How important is that to us? Wouldn't it also be wonderful if every child in Ontario could also learn to be information literate, computer literate, and media literate - because basic literacy is just the beginning of literacy and there is so much more we can teach them? I'd gladly pay $200.00 for that. "We have to think of how we're going to navigate our way through to a better future. You really can't excel without good libraries." Our role and the importance of libraries in Ontario are evident to us and to Mme. Clarkson. We know there's a strong link between libraries and literacy; we believe that in a democratic society, free access to information is the cornerstone of humanity. We are actively embracing the challenges of the future, learning and re-learning the changing needs and demands of a technologi- cally driven, global community. Our challenge is not in telling people that libraries are important. People know that. Our challenge is moving that fact from their heads to their hearts to their hands. What people in Ontario need to know and understand is that our libraries - both public and school - are in jeopardy. That means individual members of this society could lose their right to access information for free. Drying our eyes and breathing a collective sigh as we left Mme. Clarkson's address, my colleagues and I reflected, not only on the relevance of her address, but also on the depth of her concern and the breadth of her vision. We were entranced by her stories and ignited by her passion. On stage with the Governor General were 80% of OLA's living Presidents, going back to John D. Snell, 1958-59. School people who have been President of our 100-year-old Association are: Leonard Freiser 1965-66 Larry Moore 1975-76* Karen Smith 1977-78* Barbara Smith 1981-82 Peter Rogers 1988-89* Allison Craig 1992-93* * Present in February. So what's next? Armed with our knowledge, our beliefs, our vision and our action plan, we move for- wards and embark on a new campaign - @ your library. Embrace Heathcliffe @ your library. Start your search engines @ your library. Vote for democracy @ your library. The journey begins. Bonita DeAmicis wrote, "Leaders have vision and purpose and action. They are courageous about stepping up to the plate and influencing the future. What makes them leaders is not their roles, but their choices to act." 3 Cheers for Teaching, 1999 Take action @ your library. Envision the future @ your library. Be a leader @ your library. Get involved @ your library. Don't forget the Kleenex. n n n Kendra Godin-Svoboda holds the Libraries Advance Ontario portfolio on OSLA Council and is Library Facilitator for the Durham District School Board.